Cap remover



March 1966 R. A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,239

CAP REMOVER Filed Juhe 15, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS INHOLD A.PEARSON WILLIAM DEWEY RIGG ATTYJ.

March 1966 R. A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,289

CAP REMOVER Filed June 15, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 LEE-3 INVENTORSRE/NHOLD A. PEARSON WILLIAM ozwzr R166 24% w zw A T TYS.

March 1966 R. A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,289

CAP REMOVER 6 SheetsSheet 5 Filed June 15, 1964 INVENTORJ REINHOLD A.PEARSON WILLIAM DEWEY RIGG March 1, 1966 R. A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,289

CAP REMOVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 15, 1964 MN mm. m fi EY WPW. A 0AE .8 a m 4 om 0 HI H B w m MN 43 a I 6 w 5 5 5. w 8 5 n u March 1966 R.A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,239

CAP REMOVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 15, 1964 INVENTORS RE/NHOLD A.PEARSON WILLIAM DEWEY RIGG A TTYS.

March 1966 R. A. PEARSON ETAL 3,237,239

CAP REMOVER Filed June 15, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORj REM/HOLD A.PEA RS 0N {Sig/LIAM DEWEY RIGG A TTY6.

United States Patent 3,237,289 CAP REMOVER Reinhold A. Pearson, R. A.Pearson Co., S. 12 Division,

Spokane, Wash., and William Dewey Rigg, 3211 Fairfield Road, Olympia,Wash.

Filed June 15, 1964, Ser. No. 375,283 7 Claims. (Cl. 29208) Thisinvention relates to an apparatus for removing caps from bottles such asare used in the sale of beer and soft drinks where the bottles arecovered by a compressed cap having a rim that frictionally grips thebottle opening to hold the cap in place.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a produc tion machine forcontinuously removing caps from bottles .for use in areas such as abrewery where large quantities of bottles are prepared for filling. Manyreturnable bottles are returned with the caps fitted back onto thebottles. Often bottles must have caps removed for other reasons prior tofilling. This is normally done manually, and is both time consuming andexpensive. The present invention provides a machine to continuouslyremove caps from a line of bottles and does not require any manualoperation.

his a first object of this invention to provide a device that canaccurately grip and remove caps from a continuously moving line ofbottles. The bottles do not stop at any time during this operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a device that can beplaced in any conventional bottle conveyor, so that the bottles can havetheir caps removed during transfer of the bottles from one locationwithout interrupting the normal flow in a bottle plant.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a device having capremoving elements that are very simple in structure and which can bereadily replaced when necessary. The entire apparatus is fullyadjustable and extremely accurate in governing the placement and controlof the caps to be removed.

- These and further objects will be evident from a study of thefollowing disclosure, taken together with the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate one preferred form of the invention. It is to berecognized at the start that other forms of the invention might beproduced to carry out the basic principles involved. For these reasons,the following description is not intended to limit the structure of theinvention but is set out only as an example of a preferred form of thatstructure.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the apparatus, with the conveyor mechanismbroken away at both ends thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the apparatus as seen alongline 3-3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional View of the apparatus as seen alongline 4-4 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the apparatus as seen along line 55 inFIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus as seen alongline 66 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the wheel holding the magnets;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIGURE 3showing the driving arrangement for the various components; and

FIGURES 9 through 12 are a series of enlarged fragmentary views showingthe progressive removal of a cap from a bottle using the instantapparatus.

The basic structure with which this invention is concerned is designedto be fitted onto a conventional single file conveyor for bottles. Theconveyor assembly is not shown except as it concerns the cap removingapparatus.

The basic arrangement of the structure is seen best in FIGURES 1 through6. In these drawings, there is shown a rigid supporting framework 10which carries all of the instant apparatus and which serves to guide theconveyor along this portion of its length. The conveyor itself iscarried by means of a central conveyor chain 11 that is entrained aboutsprockets 12 located at its respective ends. The conveyor chain 11 hasfixed to it a series of parallel rectangular plates :13 that form theactual conveyor surface on which the bottles ride. Plates 13 slide alongguide plates 14 fixed to the framework 10 to provide a horizontal topflight on the conveyor on which the bottles rest during movementrelative to framework 10. The bottles are only frictionally engaged bythe top surface of the plates 13 anddo not necessarily move at the samerate of speed as the plates 13. The plates 13 can freely slide beneaththe bottles resting thereon.

At the inlet side of the apparatus, seen to the left in FIGURES 1 and 2,there are provided vertical guide plates 15 at each side of the plates13 and extending above tect the presence of a bottle at the offsetportion 16. The

use of this feature will be described below.

The speed of bottles passing along the conveyor plate 13 is governed bytwo sets of star wheels located in vertically stacked pairs at each sideof the apparatus and best seen in FIGURES 5 and 6. Each pair of starwheels 20 includes one wheel spaced above the other so as to contactbottles at two different heights. The star wheels 20 have outerperipheries recessed complementary to the shape of the bottles receivedbetween them, so that a bottle is accurately grasped between the starwheels 20 as it passes their respective axes. The star Wheels 20 aretimed in an opposed relationship as can be seen in FIG- URE 5. The twopairs of star wheels 20 are mounted respectively on upright verticalshafts 21, 22 journalled on the framework 10 for rotation about parallelvertical axes.

Mounted above and between the star wheels 20 is a vertical wheel 24 thatis the cap engaging member of this apparatus. The wheel 24 is fixed to ashaft 25 rotatably journalled within a movable frame 26. The frame 26 isrectangular in shape and is pivoted at its rear end, being freelyrotatable on a pivot shaft 27 which in turn is rotatably mounted on theframework .10. The front end of the rectangular frame 26 carries anadjustable stop member 28 that selectively engages an arch 30 formedintegrally with the framework 10. A tension spring 29 located at thefront end of the rectangular frame 26 norrnally maintains the stop 28 incontact with the top surface of arch 30. The spring 29 is connectedbetween the front end of the frame 26 and the framework 10.

The vertical wheel 24 has a series of radially located books 31 embeddedtherein, each hook 31 protruding be-' yond the circular periphery of thewheel 24, as can be best seen in FIGURE 4. Each hook 31 includes astraight 1 radial shank 32 that is gripped within a slot formed throughthe periphery of the wheel 24. The shanks 32 are locked in place bymeans of expandable slots 34 and tapered locking screws 35. By clampingthe shank 32 it is rigidly mounted for movement with the wheel 24. Eachbook also includes a ledge 33 bent back in the direction opposite to theintended motion of the Wheel 24 as indicated by the arrows in thedrawings, the ledge 33 being separated from the periphery of wheel 24 bya minimum distance equal to the height of the cap to be engaged thereby.The surface of the ledge 33 facing the wheel 24 is actually directedtoward the wheel 24 to form a definite hook terminating at a sharp outeredge. Also located on the periphery of the Wheel 24 are guide screws 36having protruding heads that taper outwardly so as to guide caps engagedthereby toward the hook 31 adjacent to it. Each of these screws 36 isplaced on the wheel 24 at a distance substantially equal to the width ofthe cap to be engaged by the hook 31, and in a high speed operation, thescrews assist in properly locating the bottle cap within the hook.

After a cap has been removed by the hook 31, it is desirable that it becarried to a receiving container of some sort. This could be done inmany Ways. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, it is accomplishedby means of magnets 37 carried on a wheel 38 fixed to shaft 22 directlyabove the star wheels 20 fixed thereon. The spacing of magnets 37 onwheel 38 is such that a magnet 37 will be brought into proximity witheach hook 31 as the book 31 passes the area at which it engages a cap.The cap will then be drawn to the magnet 37, which will carry the cap tothe outer portion of the wheel 38, where it will engage an uprightstripping plate 40 fixed to the framework .10, that will cause the capto fall down a chute 41 to a receiving container (not shown).

The various components described are powered from a single motor 42.There is not shown a driving connection for the conveyor chain 11, sinceit will be independently powered in the normal fashion. The motor 42turns a driving sprocket 43 which in turn rotates a large horizontalsprocket 44 on shaft 21 by means of a connecting sprocket chain 45.Above the large sprocket 44 is a smaller sprocket 46 that turns anidentical sprocket 47 fixed to the corresponding shaft 22 for theremaining set of star wheels 20. Thus, the two shafts 21 are turned atan identical rate of speed by means of the identical sprockets, but areturned in opposite directions as can be seen in FIGURE 8. The twosprockets 46, 47 are connected by means of a chain 48 that also engagesan idler sprocket 50 carried on a stub shaft 51 and a driven sprocket 52carried on a vertical shaft 53.

In order to turn the wheel 24, a driving connection must be made to thepivot shaft 27, which is rotatably mounted on the framework for movementabout a transverse horizontal axis. This driving connection is madethrough a horizontal shaft 54 rotatably journalled in bearings 55 by theframework 10. Shaft 54 is driven from the vertical shaft 53 by means ofa pair of bevel gears 56, 57. Shaft 54 is provided with a drivingsprocket 58 that turns a driven sprocket 60 on shaft 27 by means of aconnecting chain 59.

The wheel 24 itself is turned by means of a driving sprocket 61 on shaft27 and a connecting chain 63 that turns a driven sprocket 62 fixed tothe wheel shaft 25. An idler sprocket 64 is provided on the frame 26 toeliminate any slack in the chain 63. Thus all of the components aremechanically connected by a positive drive with no slack in any of thechains that connect the various sprockets. In this manner the timing ofthe various elements, which is quite critical to the operation of thismachine, is maintained without fail.

It is important to note that the axis of the Wheel shaft 25 is offsetslightly to the rear of the axes of the shafts 21 and 22. The reason forthis will be evident, since it must be borne in mind that the bottle 65,shown in FIGURES 9 through 12, must be most firmly gripped at the timethe cap is being pried from it. As shown in FIGURE 9, the bottle 65,together with its attached cap 66, rides along the conveyor plates 13and is individually guided between the continuously rotating star wheels20. In FIGURE 9, the bottle 65 would be first contacted by the starwheels 20 along its front surface. At this time, the wheel 24, which isrotating along its contacting surface in the same direction as thebottle 65 is moving, brings a hook 31 forward of the cap 66. Continuedmovement of the bottle 65,.

governed by rotation of star wheel 20, allows the cap 66 to fit betweenthe minimum separation between the ledge 33 and the periphery of wheel24. Again it must be recognized that the periphery of wheel 24 isturning at precisely the same rate of speed as the top surface of cap 66is moving relative to framework 15. There is no relative movementbetween the contacting surface of the wheel 24 and the cap surfacecontacted thereby.

In FIGURE 11, the cap 56 is grasped by the moving hook 31 and the wheel24 has passed the center of cap 66. At this moment, the wheel 24 willhave moved slightly upward relative to the framework 10 due to theallowable pivoting movement of frame 26 about the axis of shaft 27.Also, the bottle 65 will be rather firmly gripped by the four starwheels 20 in addition to the weight of the frame 26 and wheel 24 thatbears against the top surface of the cap 66. In FIGURE 12, as the bottle65 reaches the center of the star wheels 20, the cap 66 will be priedfrom the bottle and the separated cap will then be immediately drawntoward one of the moving magnets 37 as described above.

By means of the offset relation of the central axis of wheel 24, thecontinuously moving cap 66 is allowed to fit beneath the hook 31 at themoment that the shank 32 is in a vertical position as shown in FIGURE10. The offset relation of the star wheels Zil provides the maximumengagement with the bottle 65 at the time the cap 66 is being pried frombottle 65 as shown in FIGURE 12.

In order to be sure of the proper reception of bottles 65 between thestar wheels 20, it is necessary to insure that the star wheels 20 bealways receiving an abutting row of bottles 65. The purpose of the lever17 in the offset portion 16 of the inlet guide plates 15 is to detectthe presence of bottles 65 at this area. If a bottle passes the lever17, the switch 18 will be opened. Switch 18 is utilized to directlycontrol the motor 42, so that the motor 42 can only be operated when abottle is in the offset portion 16. In this manner, a stacked row ofbottles will always be fed between the star wheels 20. After the bottleshave passed the star wheels 20, they continue on the conveyor plates 13,guided by rods 23 fixed to the framework 111. During the time that thebottles pass the star wheels 20, they are laterally guided by rods 24that extend over the star wheels 20, as can be seen in FIG- URES 1 and4.

This apparatus is rather simple in structure, and its operation requiresno manual manipulation, it being entirely automatic. Every bottle thatpasses between the star wheels 20 will be contacted by one of thecontinuously moving hooks 31 so that the cap on the bottle will beremoved without ever stopping the movement of the bottle relative to theframework. The device is capable of high production, and could beduplicated in a side by side relation to handle two rows of bottlesrather than one. The fact that the peripheral surface of wheel 24 ismovable relative to the frame insures that undue pressure will not beexerted downwardly upon any particular bottle, minimizing the chance ofbreakage of the bottle. The pressure exerted by the wheel 24 on the capbeing pried from a bottle insures that the neck of the bottle will notbe subjected to undue strain and possible breakage.

Various modifications can be readily recognized in the basic structurewithout deviating from its underlying principles. Therefore, only thefollowing claims are intended to limit and restrict the scope of thisinvention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In an apparatus for removing caps from bottles:

a rigid supporting framework;

timed bottle conveyor means mounted on said framework for carryingcapped bottles relative to said framework;

wheel means rotatably mounted on said framework adjacent to saidconveyor means, including a peripheral surface for yieldably engagingouter surfaces of caps on bottles as they are moved past said wheelmeans by said conveyor means;

hook means fixed to said wheel means and extending radially outwardtherefrom for engagement beneath the edges of caps contacted by theperipheral surface of said wheel means;

and drive means operatively connected to said wheel means and saidbottle conveyor means for moving the cap contacting portion of theperipheral surface of said wheel means in unison with caps contactedthereby in a timed relationship to cause said hook means to pry capsengaged thereby from bottles as the bottles successively pass said wheelmeans.

2. In an apparatus for removing caps from bottles;

a rigid supporting framework;

timed bottle conveyor means mounted on said framework for carryingcapped bottles in upright positions in a longitudinally aligned rowalong the length of said framework;

wheel means rotatably mounted on said framework about a transverse axisabove said conveyor means, said wheel means including a peripheralsurface for yieldably engaging the top surfaces of capped bottlespassing beneath said wheel means on said conveyor means;

timed drive means operatively connected to said wheel means and to saidbottle conveyor means for moving the cap contacting portion of theperipheral surface of said wheel means in unison with caps contactedthereby;

and hook means :fixed to said wheel means extending radially outwardtherefrom beyond the peripheral surface thereof, said hook meansincluding a cap engaging ledge spaced outwardly from said peripheralsurface and bent back in a direction opposite to the direction of motionof a cap engaged thereby, the timing between the movement of saidconveyor means and said Wheel means being such that said hook meansengages and pries the cap from each bottle as it passes beneath saidwheel means.

3. In an apparatus for removing caps from bottles;

a rigid supporting framework;

a bottle supporting conveyor mounted on said framework having ahorizontal top flight for supporting and frictionally engaging thebottom surfaces of bottles placed thereon;

fixed guide means mounted on said framework alongside said conveyoradapted to align bottles on said conveyor into a straight file fortravel relative to said framework;

star wheel means extending above said conveyor at each side thereof andmounted on said framework for rotation about parallel vertical axes,said star wheel means having the outer peripheries thereof recessedcomplementary to the bottle surfaces engaged thereby on said conveyor;

timed drive means on said framework operatively connected to said starwheel means adapted to rotate said star wheel means about said axes in atimed relation to thereby engage individual bottles on said conveyor andcontrol their motion past said axes;

wheel means mounted in said framework above said conveyor for rotationabout a transverse axis, said wheel means including a circularperipheral surface for yieldably engaging the top surfaces of cappedbottles passing beneath said wheel means on said conveyor, thetransverse axis of said Wheel means being displaced slightly from saidaxes of said star Wheel means in a direction opposite to the directionof motion of said conveyor relative to said framework;

said timed drive means being operatively connected to said wheel meansfor rotating said wheel means about said axis to thereby move the capcontacting portion of the peripheral surface of said- Wheel means inunison with caps contacted thereby;

and hook means fixed to said wheel means extending radially outward fromthe peripheral surface thereof, said hook means including a cap engagingledge spaced outwardly from said peripheral surface and bent back in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation of said wheel meansabout said axis, the timing between the motion of said star wheel meansand said Wheel means being such that said hook means engage and pry thecap from each bottle as it passes between said star wheel means.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, further comprising:

means on said framework for directing caps from said hook means to areceiving container. 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, futhercomprising:

a plurality of magnets mounted on a rotatable wheel supported by saidframework, said wheel being operatively driven in a timed relation tosaid wheel member so as to bring a magnet into proximity with said hookmeans as each cap is removed from a bottle;

and means on said framework operatively engageable by said magnetsadapted to remove caps from said magnets and direct them to a receivingcontainer.

6. In an apparatus for removing caps from bottles, a

cap engaging wheel comprising:

a circular disk adapted to be mounted with the central rotational axisthereof perpendicular to the central axes of bottles from which caps areto be removed, the periphery of said disk being adapted to contact capsto be removed from the bottles;

a plurality of radially extending hooks fastened to said disk andprotruding outwardly therefrom beyond the periphery thereof, each hookbeing bent back at its outer end to form a ledge directed toward thedisk periphery, the minimum spacing between the ledge and disk beingsubstantially equal to the height of a cap rim to be engaged thereby.

7. In a Wheel as defined in claim 6:

radially protruding cam elements extending from the peripheral surfaceof said wheel having a tapered surface facing each hook and spacedtherefrom by a distance equal to the width of a cap to be engagedthereby.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,386,152 10/1945Wahl 813.2X 2,709,936 7/1955 Brennan 813.2

WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

1. IN AN APPRATUS FOR REMOVING CAPS FROM BOTTLES: A RIGID SUPPORTINGFRAMEWORK; TIMED BOTTLE CONVEYOR MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAMEWORK FORCARRY CAPPED BOTTLES RELATIVE TO SAID FRAMEWORK; WHEEL MEANS ROTATABLYMOUNTED ON SAID FRAMEWORK ADJACENT TO SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, INCLUDING APERIPHERAL SURFACE FOR YIELDABLY ENGAGING OUTER SURFACE OF CAPS ONBOTTLES AS THEY ARE MOVED PAST SAID WHEELS MEANS BY SAID CONVEYOR MEANS;HOOK MEANS FIXED TO SAID WHEEL MEANS AND EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARDTHEREFROM THE ENGAGEMENT BENEATH THE EDGES OF CAPS CONTACTED BY THEPERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID WHEEL MEANS; AND DRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELYCONNECTED TO SAID WHEEL MEANS AND SAID BOTTLE CONVEYOR MEANS FOR MOVINGTHE CAP CONTACTING PORTION OF THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID WHEEL MEANSIN UNISON WITH CAPS CONTACTED THEREBY IN A TIMED RELATIONSHIP TO CAUSESAID HOOK MEANS TO PRY CAPS ENGAGED THEREBY FROM FROM BOTTLES AS THEBOTTLES SUCCESSIVELY PASS SAID WHEEL MEANS.